Number 13
by Lylium
Summary: Simple origin change of Shepard. What if she was from the past? Genetically altered by animal genes? Found by a turian cruiser with a certain awkward turian sniper onboard? Fem!Shep/Garrus love story that goes from pre-ME1 to post-ME3.


Hello! As I'm sure a lot of you have heard before, I'm new and this is my first story. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a looonnnnggg time now, and I thought I might as well finally jot it down. Of course, I've had other ideas too, like a Dragon Age 2 story, but that I have to work on. Anyway, reviews are definitely welcome! I trust all of you won't be mean about it, right? This story is rated M, because I like cussing. And there will be sexy times abound! For the viewers who _don't _want to read things like that, I'll most likely make them their own chapter or make a tilde sign so you can skip it using Ctrl+F.

All characters, main plot, etc. are owned by Bioware. But when I get ridiculously rich, I will buy the right to own it.

EDIT! First of all, if any of my previous readers find this again and go "Why did you delete the story?" it's because I got a wonderfully helpful review from RevolvingAbyss, who pointed out many mistakes and gave me suggestions on how to improve the story. And when he/she pointed it out, I was like "Oh my holy cheese pretzel, this story is unfit to be read yet!" so I deleted it in my fit of artistic horror. I'm hoping my fantastical reviewer re-reads this and points out more mistakes, because I most likely made some. But there's always room for improvement! Also, I would be so ridiculously happy if someone would beta for me because I need someone to be like "You suck! But here's how to improve it."

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Remus Dogras was busy tapping away at his datapad, quickly listing down the number of colonists they had captured to sell off as slaves when his second in command opened his door. He felt the dull ache of his recent injury and got up to go to the bathroom to examine it in the mirror. His green eyes instantly went to the missing portion of his fringe, shot off by one of the more brazen humans. Remus didn't care much about his looks, just like he didn't care about the fact his deep brown face plates were left barefaced, but having part of his fringe gone felt odd.

"You look fine, babe." Pale orange arms wrapped around his waist and he felt his drell mate lean her head against his carapace. It was an unusual pairing, but Remus never did follow the traditional turian route.

He let out a purr at her comment, twisting around to put his forehead against hers in a gesture of affection. "Thank you, Senka. I wasn't concerned about my looks though. The missing piece of my fringe just feels wrong."

"You'll get used to it, I should know." The corner of her mouth tilted upward amusement as she lifted her left hand that was missing the pinky and ring finger, giving him a little three-fingered wave. "Now let's get something to eat; you've been working too hard lately." He let out a low rumble of agreement, following her to the elevator and down to the mess hall. They both grabbed the appropriate amino-based meals before sitting down at the mess table. The eating area was rather small, as was the rest of the Billan, their ship, with the exception of their cargo hold.

Bane, his second command, was already sitting at the mess and leaning casually on one elbow. The batarian's eyes turned to look at Remus with a bored expression on his light brown face, contrasted by the red pigmentation on the side of his head. "Why don't we ever do something exciting?"

"Killing those trigger-happy colonists wasn't good enough for you?" Senka asked him.

Bane shook his head. "We do that all the fucking time."

"Today's your lucky day if that's the case." Their asari pilot, Leia, said over the comm. "I'm getting heat signatures from an unknown vessel. It appears to be civilian and it's not moving at all."

"We'll go _after_ we eat if it's not moving." Remus looked pointedly at Bane, who had gotten up from his seat. "Bane, Senka; you're with me."

"You're gonna have to suit up. There's no environmental support and there's no telling what could be on that ship." Leia added.

A short time later the three of them had docked the ship, decked out in their armor and guns out, just in case. "This ship is fucking old! It's huge as hell even though the inside is small and there are still buttons and levers instead of modern ship controls." Bane commented when he saw the cockpit's controls.

"Evidently it's human, so that's probably why the schematics are off." Senka pointed at the male human body that was lying on the floor, under what appeared to be the air system.

"Ha! Poor bastard choked to death." Bane chuckled.

Remus shrugged. "Who cares? Let's check the rest of the ship and see if there's anything valuable."

The trio split up, taking their time to visit each room. Remus looked at the armory with interest, picking up one of the guns. It was obviously very old since it was rather heavy and didn't have a heatsink. Next to it, he noticed a case that said 'bullets' in human lettering and immediately opened it. Inside there were small metal pieces, cylindrical in shape that thinned to a point. His attention turned to the weapon rack on the other wall which held swords. They had black cloth-covered handles, a round hilt, and long thin blades. Remus searched his mind, knowing that these particular weapons had a special name. Katanas, that's what they were. While he had no use for any of the weapons in this room, there were bound to be antique collectors that would want them.

In another room, Senka had found the food supply. She was about to walk out when the wine rack caught her eye. On closer examination, a lot of the wine was from the early 1900s and even the later 1800s. She popped open a bottle and poured some of it in a glass she found so she could taste. As any good wine taster would, she swirled it around gently and took a sniff. It smelled faintly of berries, ones that she could not recognize due to the fact she had never had food from Earth. Senka took a small sip, letting the flavor sit in her mouth. The wine was rather sweet but not overbearing. She took note of the name on the label—Agreggio Pavali—deciding she would keep a bottle for herself and let Remus sell the rest.

Bane didn't seem to be having any luck. He found a bedroom, a restroom, and a small kitchen that held absolutely nothing of interest. The last room he found appeared to be a lab. There were rather disturbing jars that held fetuses, eyes, or animal parts. His lip curled in disgust before walking towards a desk and skimming over the old paper journal. Unfortunately, the man had horrid handwriting and his translator couldn't make out anything. Bane sighed but perked up at the sight of a button next to a set of closed doors. He went and pressed it, watching as the doors opened, revealing a tank labeled Number 13 with a human girl in a white dress floating in some sort of liquid. All four of his black eyes widened in surprise as he gaped at the sight of her. His mouth snapped shut as some semblance of intelligence came back to him and he opened up his comm. "Remus, I've found something, er, someone."

"Who could you possibly have found? There's no air on this ship." Remus' flanged voice was filled with skepticism. "Forget it, I'll just come over." He arrived shortly, walking up to the shocked batarian. "Now, who is—what the fuck is that?" The turian's mandibles flared in surprise when he got a look at the tank.

At his captain's question, Bane turned to look at him. "How the fuck should I know?"

"It was fucking hypothetical." Remus glanced at him from the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to the human. "Spirits, I've never seen anything like this. Senka, we need your medical expertise right now."

"No problem. I'm nearby anyway." She entered the room, joining Remus and Bane in front of the tank. Senka took in the scene better than the two males had, instead showing a scientific interest. She scanned the girl with her omnitool and saw the telltale signs of life still thriving in her. "She's survived after all this time...I wonder how this is possible. There's cryo, but that wasn't invented until 2142, and humans hadn't even entered Council space yet. The tank is surprisingly sturdy and resilient to have lasted so long. I suppose that dead male human was a scientist. It's unfortunate he's dead; he was obviously highly intelligent if he created something like this. And the girl...she must be special if she's preserved like this."

"What should we do with her?" Remus asked his mate. "Is she valuable?"

She shifted her weight to her left foot and looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure. If we contact the Verel, my brother could tell us more. He has more knowledge of human biology."

"Then that's what we'll do." He opened up his comm to the ship. "Men, get onboard. We're moving some important cargo." Bane and Senka collected the wine while Remus and the krogan mercenaries he hired transferred the tank into their ship with much difficulty. The tank was well-built for its time, but that also meant it was made of heavier materials. Eventually the girl was in their ship and Remus gave Leia the order to head to the Bahak system to sell off the captured humans to batarian colonies.

It was weeks later and they had dropped off the colonists-turned-slaves and sold the antique weapons. Senka had contacted her brother on the Verel and they were currently flying through turian airspace to meet with the other ship. Remus felt uneasy because it was odd that the Verel would want to meet here, of all places. His mate trusted her brother, so he decided to meet with them anyway.

"Remus! We have a problem!" Leia cried out in distress.

He tensed at her voice, running up to the bridge. "What is it?"

Senka replied for her, panic in her eyes. "It's a turian cruiser. We've been set up!"

"Fuck. Get us out of here, Leia!" Remus growled. Unfortunately, it was too late, and their ship was already hit by the cruiser's beam.


End file.
